* Mack *

I seriously doubted that I'd be able to replace any of my gear with better items, as much as I might wish to. I'd scored some pretty choice stuff from killing Teresa, and it seemed unlikely I'd come across anything superior in this dirt-water town. Still, you never knew until you looked.

Like last night.

I wasn't too hopeful about the selection of men. The locals all looked a bit short and malnourished. Happy sure, but mindlessly so. But I suppose that's the thing with NPC, so long as you're not interacting with them, they just mindlessly do whatever they're doing.

Anyway, last night, there was no way I was joining a mass orgy in the middle of the street. That shit was crazy. I wasn't however  willing to go to bed alone, so I grabbed me the buffest guy I could from the pile-on and dragged him back with me. His name was Bob or Bill. Or maybe Charlie. Who cares! The point is: having the whole town naked in one place is a good way to check out the goods.  

We didn't quite make it back to the inn, and I ended up getting him to take me from behind in one of the main street alleyways. Hey, don't judge, I am part cat after all. I thought that would be that, but I took one more tour of the mass of writhing bodies and spotted a bearded guy with a cock that rivaled the battering ram in the square. And lets just say, he knew how to break a gate.

Wait. Does that make any sense? Shit, I've never been good with metaphors. Or innuendo for that matter. Basically, he fucked me stupid.

I tried to sleep after that, but the orgy outside was way too loud. So, I got up and found Roy or Rob or something. By this point in the night everyone was pretty sloppy, but who was I to judge. Roy (or who ever) wasn't as big as Beard-o (never did ask his name), but was nicely proportioned and one of the few Felinoids about. He gave a great ear rub and even managed to go two rounds with me after however much sex he'd already had.

So, yeah, my point being, you never know what you'll find.

I went to the weapons shop first. The blacksmith there had a tier 5 saber but my tier 4 had a bonus that beat it, so no sale. I had better luck at the Tannery. They had a banded leather tier 5 bustier that beat my current corset and matched my skirt better.

I tried it on and it fit all right. It sure did boost the girls. The black leather covered my front from the second rib up and had vertical bands of steel running up to the cups. The cups were protected by convex domes of steel that looked like large metallic areolas. In back, it was tied with crisscrossing leather string.

At first, I was so focused on the new armor that I didn't realize this was the first time I was truly seeing myself. Up until now, there'd been no mirrors. The best look I'd gotten was in the murky surface of a pond or a stream. I have to say, I was pretty impressed. My legs were toned. My arms showed the outlines of graceful muscle. My belly was taut and showed off abs. Actual fucking abs! This was light years from my real body.  I'd never dare wear an outfit like this with that body (never mind that I really had no place to wear a dominatrix getup IRL). But yeah, I could imagine how my stomach would roll out, covering the top (hell, most of) of my micro-skirt. And bustier would have too little to work with but manage to bind and scrunch the excess fat on my back and torso. My exposed limbs would look less like chiseled stone and more like cottage cheese. This was definitely an upgrade. If I could go back with this, I'd be pretty damn happy. Hell, I'd even keep the ears and tail if it meant keeping the rest.

I paid up and browsed a few more places, but didn't come across anything worth buying. Maybe once we got to the city they'd have more selection. What was that city called again? Something pervy. Just like Dew Valley, our next stop on this journey. Seriously, Dewy Valley? Did Katie think that was sexy or could she just not think of anything that wasn't sex oriented?

I wasn't terribly happy about going on this side-quest for the woodland creatures. Yarrow seemed to be getting all the advantages in this game. Here I was beating the biggest enemy we'd encounter in a one-on-one fight, and she was still higher level than I was. Why couldn't I get experience from fucking? I'd just stay on my back all day until I was level 20. 

Damn Yarrow getting a head of all of us just for taking Rick's cock.

But going on this quest was part of playing nice. We were all one big happy family now, after all. I admit, I'd have been happier if it was just the four of us again. Although, on second thought, I'm not so sure. We were all so different from the kids who'd gone to college together. I mean we'd changed plenty in the years since school, but the game had sent everyone spirally off in the their own direction. Was any of us the same person who plugged into the game-pods?

It was easy to look at Yarrow and Cherry and see how altered they were from the nerdy guys I'd known. Even Trogia wasn't the wild, joking dickhead he'd once been. But if I examined my own behavior, it was as shockingly different from the real me as my body was. I'd always been brash, but now I was an uber-bitch. And since when was I okay with fucking every guy I met? Not that I minded any of it. But it was strange to consider these shifts.

Although, I'd never been much of a shopaholic and that hadn't seemed to change. I whipped through the shops in nothing flat and had a lot of time to kill before I was supposed to meet up with the others. So, I decided to see if I couldn't find Beard-o again.

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* Sulin *

So, it was done. I was officially in the party. Time would tell if it would change anything. 

Part of me still wanted to find a group of more like-minded players to go with—specifically more serious and less perverted players. But it was almost two weeks since the crash, and I hadn't come across any that fit that bill. And I suppose it wasn't fair to look down on them for being so focused on sex rather than clearing dungeons. This game certainly pushed one into that direction.

Never in real life would I ever just grab a stranger and bring them into my bed, but that's just what I did last night. It made it easier being an NPC—just a blank computer-generated non-entity, I told myself. I only really did it because I was sick of masturbating each night and waking up to Katie's max-out warning in the morning. So, I slept with this generic-villager-X four times to make sure I'd not see that message for a while. I'd be lying to say it wasn't enjoyable. I didn't hate sex, but always found it awkward and uncomfortable—not worth the effort for the reward, usually. But since I'd started having sex in Feronia, it was different. Intercourse always just felt great with no down side. Like eating chocolate.  Even bad chocolate was good chocolate, you know? And the orgasms were all fireworks and pleasure, releasing so much endorphins it was practically heroin. Not that I'd ever tried heroin.

In a sign that thing might actually have changed since the group discussion at lunch, Yarrow asked me to accompany her on the shopping trip. It was nice to have some company and fun to share comments on the merchandise on offer. Although Yarrow didn't seem that interested in buying things. 

She'd elected to go clothed today, which I appreciated. But it was clear that since her evolution, she had nothing but disdain for them and didn't even bother to show interest when we browsed the clothing store. I didn't buy anything there, but it was interesting to see what passed as fashion here.

"Looks like the rural-bordello look is in this year," I said.

Yarrow responded dryly, "I imagine it's in every year."

In game-word style, the celebratory activity of yesterday was done with. It might have been five years since the siege considering the way everyone was acting. Although, we were both treated with respects and some people came up to thank us. Yarrow definitely got more attention than me though, and the store keepers deferred to her as though she was royalty, which made me a little jealous.

I had better luck at the fletcher and the weapon maker's, trading in my dagger and getting a half-dozen better arrows. The magic shop also was beneficial—calling it a "magic shop" puts mind of store selling cups that make balls disappear and collapsible top hats, but it really was just the store that traded in random magical items. They had a terrific ring that allowed archers to get two shots in a round. It was a bit of a splurge, but I went for it.

We were pretty much done, when Yarrow said, "What do you think those buildings are for?" 

I hadn't noticed them yesterday. They seemed better constructed and slightly larger than most in the village. They stood about 20 yeards from the right side of the village square. One was dome shaped, the second was like an A-frame, and the third looked a bit like a pergola, consisting of a square platform with an open slat roof and no walls.

"What are those?" I asked a passing villager—a woman who was transporting a basket of vegetables wearing what appeared to be a negligee.

"The temples, ma'am." I asked her to elaborate. "We have worshipers of three gods here in Thistle Brook. Madira, Diaphia, and Euphitra." She pointed to the buildings in order, then continued on her way.

Yarrow stared off into space for a second, then turned to me. "This might be a good opportunity for you. They're all earth aligned deities. Roughly speaking: Madira is the goddess of motherhood and bountiful crops, Diaphia is the huntress, and Euphitra is ... hmm ... she's hard to work out. The archives just say, 'goddess of the open plane. Rules over meadows, pastures, and flowers." You're guess is as good as mine what her blessings will get you, but Diaphia might be a really good option for you."

Pledging yourself to a god was always a right of passage in Feronia, but had become infinitely more risky under Katie. Still, a huntress seemed to work well with my class and could make me better in battle. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of forgetting my own name, but so long as it wasn't something stripper-sounding like Crystal, it shouldn't be too bad.

We found a priestess, who sold me a candle, a strip of venison, and a small bottle of flower wine for the required offering. Inside the temple, the air was hot and still. The scent of the wooden walls was thick and gave me a sense of the long years this building had been here. There were woven mats on the floor and a clay statue rising up almost to the peak of the A-frame. She was all human with no extra limbs or animal parts which was reassuring to see. She stood one one leg, in a depiction that might have meant to show her running, dancing, or about to knee someone in the balls. One hand held a bow, and the other had an amber colored gemstone.

I lit the candle, poured out the wine at her feet, placed the meat in a bowl at the statues base, and said a few words honoring her and pledging myself to her service.

There was a lot to take in, but the main thing that hit me was my name was Savannah! That wasn't too bad was it. I rolled it around in my head ...

Ah, shit! It was kind of a stripper name, wasn't it?

What was all the other stuff it said? The bonuses were all good. I could care less about the Presence, but I was happy for the combat ones. An aggression skill sounded beneficial until I read what it meant.

It gave me the first strike in any combat, so long as I had my weapon in my hand, which was fine. But it also made me sexually aggressive around people I found attractive. And it wasn't like I could simply fight it with willpower. If I failed in bedding the person, I gained 3 Arousal Potency points for "frustration's sake"! Fucking great!

I guess the skill went hand in hand with the mission I was assigned.

So, this is how I would start being just another pervert in this game.

"How did it go?" Yarrow asked.

"Well, I guess I'm really part of this group now."

She looked at me quizzically not understanding what I meant.

* Crystal *

So, my first order of business was to get something better than this ridiculous chain-mail suit. But of fucking course, the blacksmith didn't make gnome sizes. Racist bastard!

So, now I had to keep going around in the chintzy gold-colored bikini looking thing. Why couldn't I have found a set of armor meant for a male. I wouldn't care if it didn't fit properly. And it really didn't make it any better that since the evolution I looked even more like a girl and filled out the swimsuit armor even better. The whole thing made me uncomfortable as fuck. 

Especially the sex.

I'd grabbed one of the mayors servants for my bed last night. We'd worked each other with our fingers, but I really didn't like getting penetrated, so switched to scissoring. It was an improvement, but still just served to remind me (every damn second) that my dick was gone.

But back to shopping.

Some of the other armor might have fit me, like the boots or helmets, but I gave it a pass until I could get a new ax, so I'd know exactly what I had left to spend. 

The weapons place had a fantastic hand ax. A real beaut. Tier 5 with a bonus. Gleaming steel with inlay designs and handle that fit my hand perfectly. It was a trade-in and not the blacksmith's own work, which was all really plain looking. It cost me nearly half my gold, but it was worth it. Then, I went back to that racist and grabbed new boots and a shield. They had a great tier 5 shield with an added bonus, but after the ax, it would have left me penniless, so I grabbed a tier 4 instead. It was perfectly round with concentric bands of steel with a fire symbol in the center (that seemed appropriate considering the Red Gnome thing). The only footwear that fit were tier 3 ankle boots. They looked kind of dainty next to my old chunky iron combat boots, but there really wasn't anything gendered about them.

I didn't have a whole lot of money anymore, but I decided to check out the magic shop, just in case. However, on the way there, something in the window of the sex shop caught my eye.

I went in and a buxom woman of about forty asked if she could help me.

"I ... er ... I was wondering about that item there." I pointed not really wanting to say the name out loud. 

She clapped her hands pleased. "Oh, that is the finest strap-on on the store. It is perfect for a woman of your stature."

"How does it work? I mean, will it give me any pleasure while wearing it?"

"There is the pleasure you will receive from seeing your partner filled by it, or if you're into humiliation games there is plenty of fun to be had." She picked it up to show it to me. It was a big, brown leather rod with a whole lot of straps hanging off of it. "But if you mean direct physical pleasure, then if you tie this right, this bit of leather here will stimulate your clitoris."

"Oh."

"I was hoping you might have something that ... er ... might feel like the real thing."

She gave me a coy smile and raised a finger. When she disappeared in the back, I had a chance to look around and marveled at all the weird and varied selection. I figured without silicone, there wouldn't be many options. But either medieval Europe was awash with sex toys or Katie was very inventive.

The woman came back. She hid something below the level of the counter and seemed about to burst from excitement. "Now, this is something special. I wouldn't show it to just everyone, but then, you're a renowned hero." She placed a mushroom on the counter. It was vaguely dick-like with the cap drooping down one side lopsided. Although it ran much further down than the head of a dick would (nearly a third of its length). The mushroom was maybe seven inches long, maybe eight and had variation of color from yellow-beige to an earthy-brown reminding me of a shiitake. 

"It's a mushroom," I said.

"This is a very unique species of fungi found only in the most remote part of the Deep Forest. Very hard to come by. Do you see the roots here." She showed my the end without the cap where hundreds of corpse-white tendrils sprouted. "These will attach to skin and communicate with your senses, making you feel what it feels."

"So, it's like a real cock then?"

"No. It can't actually orgasm. It merely transmits sensations. But if you attach it over your clitoris, it will mimic the experience somewhat. More so than the strap-on."

"And what happens after I put it on? Do I just have a mushroom stuck on my groin for ever?"

"It will fall off after about an hour. And it should be good for—oh, say twenty to twenty-five uses. You just want to be careful you don't over do things and use it too—"

"Yeah, no worries about that. I'll take it." I put down the last of my gold coins to seal the purchase.

Before I could put it in my inventory she said, "So, would you care to try it out."

She was a bit old for me, but still quite attractive. I said, "Sounds like a good idea."